Audible passenger announcements for autonomous vehicle services

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the technology relate to assisting a passenger in an autonomous vehicle without a driver. For instance, after a door of the vehicle is opened, a predetermined period of time may be waited by processors of computing devices of the vehicle. After waiting the predetermined period of time and when the vehicle&#39;s door remains open, a set of instructions for closing the vehicle&#39;s door may be played by the processors through a speaker of the vehicle. Once the door of the vehicle is closed, an announcement may be played by the processors through the speaker requesting that the passenger press a first button to initiate a ride to a destination. In response to the first button being pressed, the ride to the destination may be initiated by the processors by maneuvering the vehicle autonomously to the destination.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 17/075,973, filed Oct. 21, 2020, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/395,659, filed Apr. 26, 2019, nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,843,566, the entire disclosures of which areincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Autonomous vehicles, such as vehicles that do not require a humandriver, can be used to aid in the transport of passengers or items fromone location to another. Such vehicles may operate in a fully autonomousmode where passengers may provide some initial input, such as a pickupor destination location, and the vehicle maneuvers itself to thatlocation. Vehicles generally, including autonomous and non-autonomous,may provide occupants with audio and/or visual notifications about thestatus of the vehicle and in some instances, about the status of objectsoutside of the vehicle. cl BRIEF SUMMARY

One aspect of the disclosure provides a method of assisting a passengerin an autonomous vehicle without a driver. The method includes after adoor of the vehicle is opened, waiting, by one or more processors of oneor more computing devices of the vehicle, a predetermined period oftime; after waiting the predetermined period of time and when thevehicle's door remains open, playing, by the one or more processors, aset of instructions for closing the vehicle's door through a speaker ofthe vehicle; once the door of the vehicle is closed, playing, by the oneor more processors, an announcement through the speaker requesting thatthe passenger press a first button to initiate a ride to a destination;and in response to the first button being pressed, initiating, by theone or more processors, the ride to the destination by maneuvering thevehicle autonomously to the destination.

In one example, when the door of the vehicle is open, playing throughthe speaker, information identifying the vehicle to the passenger toenable the passenger to confirm that the passenger is in the passenger'sassigned vehicle. In another example, the predetermined period of timecorresponds to an amount of time during which a passenger can beexpected to enter the vehicle and close the door of the vehicle. Inanother example, the set of instructions includes asking the passengerto press a second button to close the door twice. In this example, thesecond button is the first button. In addition or alternatively, the setof instructions identifies the second button from a plurality ofbuttons. In another example, once the door is closed, playing a secondannouncement stating the destination in order to enable the passenger toconfirm that the passenger is in the passenger's assigned vehicle. Inthis example, the second announcement further requests that thepassenger confirm the destination by pressing a second button. In thisexample, the second button is the first button. In addition oralternatively, the second announcement is played after the ride to thedestination has been initiated. In addition or alternatively, the methodalso includes, before playing the second announcement, confirming thatthe passenger is seated within the vehicle. In another example, themethod also includes, during the ride, providing instructions to thepassenger about how to control one or more functions of the vehicle viathe speaker. In this example, the one or more functions include openingor closing a window of the vehicle. In addition or alternatively, theone or more functions includes how to use air conditioning of thevehicle. In addition or alternatively, the one or more functionsincludes how to listen to music. In another example, the method alsoincludes, during the ride, providing a monologue including a pluralityof announcements to the passenger about what the vehicle is doing viathe speaker; receiving from a user input device, user input requesting achange to a frequency of the plurality of announcements; and changingthe frequency based on the request. In another example, the method alsoincludes during the ride, providing a monologue including a plurality ofannouncements to the passenger about what the vehicle is doing via thespeaker; receiving from a user input device, user input requesting achange to a volume of the plurality of announcements; and changing thevolume based on the request. In another example, the method alsoincludes, during the ride, providing a monologue including a pluralityof announcements to the passenger about what the vehicle is doing viathe speaker; receiving from a user input device, user input requesting achange to a content of the plurality of announcements; and changing thecontent based on the request. In another example, the method alsoincludes, during the ride, providing a monologue including a pluralityof announcements to the passenger about what the vehicle is doing viathe speaker; identifying a problem condition; providing a secondannouncement based on the identified problem condition; connecting thevehicle with a rider support representative; and while the rider supportrepresentative is connected, disabling at least some of the plurality ofannouncements. In another example, the method also includes, during theride, disabling or ignoring inputs from a touch-sensitive display of thevehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of an example vehicle in accordance withan exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an example external view of a vehicle in accordance withaspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a pictorial diagram of an example system in accordance withaspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a functional diagram of the system of FIG. 3 in accordancewith aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is an example flow diagram in accordance with aspects of thedisclosure.

FIG. 6 is an example flow diagram in accordance with aspects of thedisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

The technology relates to assisting passengers in vehicles withoutdrivers (i.e. autonomous vehicles). This assistance may includeproviding audible information to passengers. Passengers who may benefitfrom such assistance may include those who are blind or have visionimpairments, are new to autonomous vehicles (i.e. a first ride), havephysical impairments, are elderly or infirm, are distracted or easilydistracted, etc. or in situations in which the information to beprovided may be too complex or simply too much for presenting visually.By assisting passengers in this way, the passenger may be able to remaincalm and more easily understand what the vehicle is doing as well aswhat the passenger should be doing, for instance, in order to get thevehicle to proceed to the passenger's destination. This in turn, mayenable the vehicle to operate more efficiently as discussed furtherbelow.

For instance, when a vehicle is stopped to pick up a passenger, thevehicle's computing devices and/or the passenger may open the vehicle'sdoor. At this point, assuming the passenger is getting into or close tothe vehicle, the vehicle's computing devices may play some identifyinginformation through a speaker, such as information that may enable thepassenger to confirm that he or she is in the correct vehicle.

After a predetermined period of time, if the vehicle's door remainsopen, for instance as confirmed by feedback from a door sensor, thevehicle's computing devices may play a set of instructions for closingthe vehicle's door through the speaker. The predetermined period of timemay be a reasonable amount of time during which a passenger can beexpected to enter the vehicle and close the door.

Once the door is closed, the vehicle may confirm the passenger'sdestination. This may include playing an announcement stating thedestination, such as a proper name for the destination and/or a streetaddress. The passenger may then be asked to confirm the destination byway of an announcement. After confirming the destination, the passengermay be asked to initiate the ride by way of an announcement. By makingthis a separate step from confirming the destination, this again mayaddress situations in which a passenger has accidentally confirmed anincorrect destination.

During the ride, the vehicle's computing devices may provide a monologueof information about the ride through the speaker. The announcements mayalso provide messages about problem conditions of the vehicle, such asproblems with the vehicle such as a collision or sensor problems.

As the vehicle approaches the destination, the announcements may alsoinclude information related to the destination. For instance, thevehicle's computing devices may use information about an expectedarrival time combined with data from other sources to provideinformation to a passenger or passengers. The announcements may alsoinclude information to help orient the passenger or passengers relativeto the destination. In some instances, the announcements may identifythe current weather situation or whether the passenger would need toavoid any obstacles that are outside of the vehicle. These obstacles andweather conditions may be determined, for instance, based on sensor datafrom the vehicle's perception system.

In some instances, the passenger or passengers may be able to change thefrequency or level of detail of the announcements. For example, apassenger may request more detail on the vehicle's current environmentby selecting for the vehicle to play information regarding nearbylandmarks or information such as whether the vehicle is at a stop light,what streets the vehicle is passing, etc. As another example, the levelof detail for announcements may include two or more levels of detailwhich the passenger or passengers may select.

The features described herein may allow for a vehicle without a driverto provide assistance to passengers. Again, by assisting passengers inthis way, the passenger may be able to remain calm and more easilyunderstand what the vehicle is doing as well as what the passengershould be doing, for instance, in order to get the vehicle to proceed tothe passenger's destination. This in turn, may enable the vehicle tooperate more efficiently as the passenger will have a betterunderstanding of how to operate the vehicle. For instance, visuallyimpaired users may gain a better understanding of their world andcommunity. Put another way, with human drivers, a visually impairedperson may not be provided with sufficient context to allow a visuallyimpaired person the ability to discover new locations by driving throughsuch locations. However, the announcements can create “an audio picture”for visually impaired passengers so they have a much greater context forwhere they are and what is around them.

Example Systems

As shown in FIG. 1, a vehicle 100 in accordance with one aspect of thedisclosure includes various components. While certain aspects of thedisclosure are particularly useful in connection with specific types ofvehicles, the vehicle may be any type of vehicle including, but notlimited to, cars, trucks, motorcycles, buses, recreational vehicles,etc. The vehicle may have one or more computing devices, such ascomputing devices 110 containing one or more processors 120, memory 130and other components typically present in general purpose computingdevices.

The memory 130 stores information accessible by the one or moreprocessors 120, including instructions 132 and data 134 that may beexecuted or otherwise used by the processor 120. The memory 130 may beof any type capable of storing information accessible by the processor,including a computing device-readable medium, or other medium thatstores data that may be read with the aid of an electronic device, suchas a hard-drive, memory card, ROM, RAM, DVD or other optical disks, aswell as other write-capable and read-only memories. Systems and methodsmay include different combinations of the foregoing, whereby differentportions of the instructions and data are stored on different types ofmedia.

The instructions 132 may be any set of instructions to be executeddirectly (such as machine code) or indirectly (such as scripts) by theprocessor. For example, the instructions may be stored as computingdevice code on the computing device-readable medium. In that regard, theterms “software,” “instructions” and “programs” may be usedinterchangeably herein. The instructions may be stored in object codeformat for direct processing by the processor, or in any other computingdevice language including scripts or collections of independent sourcecode modules that are interpreted on demand or compiled in advance.Functions, methods and routines of the instructions are explained inmore detail below.

The data 134 may be retrieved, stored or modified by processor 120 inaccordance with the instructions 132. For instance, although the claimedsubject matter is not limited by any particular data structure, the datamay be stored in computing device registers, in a relational database asa table having a plurality of different fields and records, XMLdocuments or flat files. The data may also be formatted in any computingdevice-readable format.

The one or more processors 120 may be any conventional processors, suchas commercially available CPUs. Alternatively, the one or moreprocessors may be a dedicated device such as an ASIC or otherhardware-based processor. Although FIG. 1 functionally illustrates theprocessor, memory, and other elements of computing devices 110 as beingwithin the same block, it will be understood by those of ordinary skillin the art that the processor, computing device, or memory may actuallyinclude multiple processors, computing devices, or memories that may ormay not be stored within the same physical housing. For example, memorymay be a hard drive or other storage media located in a housingdifferent from that of computing devices 110. Accordingly, references toa processor or computing device will be understood to include referencesto a collection of processors or computing devices or memories that mayor may not operate in parallel.

Computing devices 110 may include all of the components normally used inconnection with a computing device such as the processor and memorydescribed above as well as a user inputs 150 (e.g., a mouse, keyboard,touch screen, buttons, and/or microphone) and various electronicdisplays (e.g., a monitor having a screen or any other electrical devicethat is operable to display information). In this example, the vehicleincludes an internal electronic display 152 as well as one or morespeakers 154 to provide information or audio-visual experiences. In thisregard, internal electronic display 152 may be located within a cabin ofvehicle 100 and may be used by computing devices 110 to provideinformation to passengers within the vehicle 100. The computing devices110 may also include and/or receive feedback from various status sensors156 of the vehicle which may include, for instance, a door sensor thatmay indicate to the computing devices 110 the status (i.e. whether openor closed) of a vehicle door (such as vehicle doors 350, 352 of FIG. 2).Other sensors, such as seat belt sensors, seat sensors (e.g. pressuresensors or switches), internal cameras, etc. may also be part of and/orprovide feedback to the computing devices 110 about the status of thevehicle 100.

Computing devices 110 may also include one or more wireless networkconnections 158 to facilitate communication with other computingdevices, such as the client computing devices and server computingdevices described in detail below. The wireless network connections mayinclude short range communication protocols such as Bluetooth, Bluetoothlow energy (LE), cellular connections, as well as various configurationsand protocols including the Internet, World Wide Web, intranets, virtualprivate networks, wide area networks, local networks, private networksusing communication protocols proprietary to one or more companies,Ethernet, WiFi and HTTP, and various combinations of the foregoing.

In one example, computing devices 110 may be control computing devicesof an autonomous driving computing system or incorporated into vehicle100. The autonomous driving computing system may be capable ofcommunicating with various components of the vehicle in order to controlthe movement of vehicle 100 according to the autonomous vehicle controlsoftware of memory 130 as discussed further below. For example,returning to FIG. 1, computing devices 110 may be in communication withvarious systems of vehicle 100, such as deceleration system 160,acceleration system 162, steering system 164, signaling system 166,planning system 168, routing system 170, positioning system 172,perception system 174, behavior modeling system 176, and power system178 (i.e. the vehicle's engine or motor) in order to control themovement, speed, etc. of vehicle 100 in accordance with the instructions132 of memory 130. Each of these systems may include various hardware(processors and memory similar to processors 120 and memory 130) as wellas software, in order to enable these systems to perform various tasks.Again, although these systems are shown as external to computing devices110, in actuality, these systems may also be incorporated into computingdevices 110, again as an autonomous driving computing system forcontrolling vehicle 100.

As an example, computing devices 110 may interact with one or moreactuators of the deceleration system 160 and/or acceleration system 162,such as brakes, accelerator pedal, and/or the engine or motor of thevehicle, in order to control the speed of the vehicle. Similarly, one ormore actuators of the steering system 164, such as a steering wheel,steering shaft, and/or pinion and rack in a rack and pinion system, maybe used by computing devices 110 in order to control the direction ofvehicle 100. For example, if vehicle 100 is configured for use on aroad, such as a car or truck, the steering system may include one ormore actuators to control the angle of wheels to turn the vehicle.Signaling system 166 may be used by computing devices 110 in order tosignal the vehicle's intent to other drivers or vehicles, for example,by lighting turn signals or brake lights when needed.

Planning system 168 may be used by computing devices 110 in order todetermine and follow a route generated by a routing system 170 to alocation. For instance, the routing system 170 may use map informationto determine a route from a current location of the vehicle to adestination location. The planning system 168 may periodically generatetrajectories, or short-term plans for controlling the vehicle for someperiod of time into the future, in order to follow the route to thedestination. In this regard, the planning system 168, routing system170, and/or data 134 may store detailed map information, e.g., highlydetailed maps identifying the shape and elevation of roadways, lanelines, intersections, crosswalks, speed limits, traffic signals,buildings, signs, real time traffic information, vegetation, or othersuch objects and information.

Although the map information is depicted herein as an image-based map,the map information need not be entirely image based (for example,raster). For example, the map information may include one or more roadgraphs or graph networks of information such as roads, lanes,intersections, and the connections between these features. Each featuremay be stored as graph data and may be associated with information suchas a geographic location and whether or not it is linked to otherrelated features, for example, a stop sign may be linked to a road andan intersection, etc. In some examples, the associated data may includegrid-based indices of a road graph to allow for efficient lookup ofcertain road graph features.

Positioning system 172 may be used by computing devices 110 in order todetermine the vehicle's relative or absolute position on a map or on theearth. For example, the position system 172 may include a GPS receiverto determine the device's latitude, longitude and/or altitude position.Other location systems such as laser-based localization systems,inertial-aided GPS, or camera-based localization may also be used toidentify the location of the vehicle. The location of the vehicle mayinclude an absolute geographical location, such as latitude, longitude,and altitude as well as relative location information, such as locationrelative to other cars immediately around it which can often bedetermined with less noise that absolute geographical location.

The positioning system 172 may also include other devices incommunication with computing devices 110, such as an accelerometer,gyroscope or another direction/speed detection device to determine thedirection and speed of the vehicle or changes thereto. By way of exampleonly, an acceleration device may determine its pitch, yaw or roll (orchanges thereto) relative to the direction of gravity or a planeperpendicular thereto. The device may also track increases or decreasesin speed and the direction of such changes. The device's provision oflocation and orientation data as set forth herein may be providedautomatically to the computing devices 110, other computing devices andcombinations of the foregoing.

The perception system 174 also includes one or more components fordetecting objects external to the vehicle such as other vehicles,obstacles in the roadway, traffic signals, signs, trees, etc. Forexample, the perception system 174 may include lasers, sonar, radar,cameras and/or any other detection devices that record data which may beprocessed by computing device 110. In the case where the vehicle is apassenger vehicle such as a minivan, the minivan may include a laser orother sensors mounted on the roof or other convenient location. Forinstance, FIG. 2 is an example external view of vehicle 100. In thisexample, roof-top housing 310 and dome housing 312 may include a LIDARsensor as well as various cameras and radar units. In addition, housing320 located at the front end of vehicle 100 and housings 330, 332 on thedriver's and passenger's sides of the vehicle may each store a LIDARsensor. For example, housing 330 is located in front of driver door 350.Vehicle 100 also includes housings 340, 342 for radar units and/orcameras also located on the roof of vehicle 100. Additional radar unitsand cameras (not shown) may be located at the front and rear ends ofvehicle 100 and/or on other positions along the roof or roof-top housing310. Vehicle 100 also includes many features of a typical passengervehicle such as doors 350, 352, wheels 360, 362, etc.

The various systems of the vehicle may function using autonomous vehiclecontrol software in order to determine how to and to control thevehicle. As an example, a perception system software module of theperception system 174 may use sensor data generated by one or moresensors of an autonomous vehicle, such as cameras, LIDAR sensors, radarunits, sonar units, etc., to detect and identify objects and theircharacteristics. These characteristics may include location, type,heading, orientation, speed, acceleration, change in acceleration, size,shape, etc. In some instances, characteristics may be input into abehavior prediction system software module which uses various modelsbased on object type to output a predicted future behavior for adetected object. In other instances, the characteristics may be put intoone or more detection system software modules, such as a constructionzone detection system software module configured to detect constructionzones from sensor data generated by the one or more sensors of thevehicle as well as an emergency vehicle detection system configured todetect emergency vehicles from sensor data generated by sensors of thevehicle. Each of these detection system software modules may usesvarious models to output a likelihood of a construction zone or anobject being an emergency vehicle. Detected objects, predicted futurebehaviors, various likelihoods from detection system software modules,the map information identifying the vehicle's environment, positioninformation from the positioning system 172 identifying the location andorientation of the vehicle, a destination for the vehicle as well asfeedback from various other systems of the vehicle (including a routegenerated by the routing system 170) may be input into a planning systemsoftware module of the planning system 168. The planning system may usethis input to generate trajectories for the vehicle to follow for somebrief period of time into the future. A control system software moduleof the computing devices 110 may be configured to control movement ofthe vehicle, for instance by controlling braking, acceleration andsteering of the vehicle, in order to follow a trajectory.

The computing devices 110 may control the direction and speed of thevehicle autonomously by controlling various components. In order to doso, computing devices 110 may cause the vehicle to accelerate (e.g., byincreasing fuel or other energy provided to the engine by accelerationsystem 162), decelerate (e.g., by decreasing the fuel supplied to theengine, changing gears, and/or by applying brakes by deceleration system160), change direction (e.g., by turning the front or rear wheels ofvehicle 100 by steering system 164), and signal such changes (e.g., bylighting turn signals of signaling system 166). Thus, the accelerationsystem 162 and deceleration system 160 may be a part of a drivetrainthat includes various components between an engine of the vehicle andthe wheels of the vehicle. Again, by controlling these systems,computing devices 110 may also control the drivetrain of the vehicle inorder to maneuver the vehicle autonomously.

In addition, memory 130 may store information that can be used bycomputing devices 110 to generate and play various announcements throughthe speakers 154. These announcements may be pre-recorded or dynamicallygenerated voice-over announcements which may provide instructions orother information to a passenger of the vehicle as discussed furtherbelow. Pre-recorded or dynamically generated voice-over announcementsmay be generated in a passenger's selected language and/or in accordancewith the passenger's selection of accent/voice type. These selectionsmay be made, for instance, via an application for the autonomous vehicleservice discussed further below. The announcements may be stored in anycompressed (lossless or lossy) or uncompressed audio file formats.Announcements may include individual sound files which may be playedtogether with other sounds files in order to provide information topassengers of the vehicle 100. In addition, each of these announcementsmay be associated with or otherwise indexed to an event or a series ofevents. In this regard, identifiers for a particular event or series ofevents may be used to identify an appropriate announcement orannouncements.

Computing device 110 of vehicle 100 may also receive or transferinformation to and from other computing devices, such as those computingdevices that are a part of the transportation service as well as othercomputing devices. FIGS. 3 and 4 are pictorial and functional diagrams,respectively, of an example system 300 that includes a plurality ofcomputing devices 410, 420, 430, 440 and a storage system 450 connectedvia a network 460. System 300 also includes vehicle 100 and vehicles100A, which may be configured the same as or similarly to vehicle 100.Although only a few vehicles and computing devices are depicted forsimplicity, a typical system may include significantly more.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of computing devices 410, 420, 430, 440 mayinclude one or more processors, memory, data and instructions. Suchprocessors, memories, data and instructions may be configured similarlyto one or more processors 120, memory 130, data 134, and instructions132 of computing device 110.

The network 460, and intervening nodes, may include variousconfigurations and protocols including short range communicationprotocols such as Bluetooth, Bluetooth LE, the Internet, World Wide Web,intranets, virtual private networks, wide area networks, local networks,private networks using communication protocols proprietary to one ormore companies, Ethernet, WiFi and HTTP, and various combinations of theforegoing. Such communication may be facilitated by any device capableof transmitting data to and from other computing devices, such as modemsand wireless interfaces.

In one example, one or more computing devices 410 may include one ormore server computing devices having a plurality of computing devices,e.g., a load balanced server farm, that exchange information withdifferent nodes of a network for the purpose of receiving, processingand transmitting the data to and from other computing devices. Forinstance, one or more computing devices 410 may include one or moreserver computing devices that are capable of communicating withcomputing device 110 of vehicle 100 or a similar computing device ofvehicle 100A as well as computing devices 420, 430, 440 via the network460. For example, vehicles 100, 100A, may be a part of a fleet ofvehicles that can be dispatched by server computing devices to variouslocations. In this regard, the server computing devices 410 may functionas a dispatching server computing system which can be used to dispatchvehicles such as vehicle 100 and vehicle 100A to different locations inorder to pick up and drop off passengers. In addition, server computingdevices 410 may use network 460 to transmit and present information to auser, such as user 422, 432, 442 on a display, such as displays 424,434, 444 of computing devices 420, 430, 440. In this regard, computingdevices 420, 430, 440 may be considered client computing devices.

As shown in FIG. 4, each client computing device 420, 430, 440 may be apersonal computing device intended for use by a user 422, 432, 442, andhave all of the components normally used in connection with a personalcomputing device including a one or more processors (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU)), memory (e.g., RAM and internal hard drives)storing data and instructions, a display such as displays 424, 434, 444(e.g., a monitor having a screen, a touch-screen, a projector, atelevision, or other device that is operable to display information),and user input devices 426, 436, 446 (e.g., a mouse, keyboard,touchscreen or microphone). The client computing devices may alsoinclude a camera for recording video streams, speakers, a networkinterface device, and all of the components used for connecting theseelements to one another.

Although the client computing devices 420, 430, and 440 may eachcomprise a full-sized personal computing device, they may alternativelycomprise mobile computing devices capable of wirelessly exchanging datawith a server over a network such as the Internet. By way of exampleonly, client computing device 420 may be a mobile phone or a device suchas a wireless-enabled PDA, a tablet PC, a wearable computing device orsystem, or a netbook that is capable of obtaining information via theInternet or other networks. In another example, client computing device430 may be a wearable computing system, shown as a wristwatch as shownin FIG. 3. As an example, the user may input information using a smallkeyboard, a keypad, microphone, using visual signals with a camera, or atouch screen.

In some examples, client computing device 440 may be concierge workstation used by an administrator to provide concierge or remoteassistance services to users such as users 422 and 432. For example, arepresentative 442 may use the concierge work station 440 to communicatevia a telephone call or audio connection with users through theirrespective client computing devices or vehicles 100 or 100A in order toensure the safe operation of vehicles 100 and 100A and the safety of theusers as described in further detail below. Although only a singleconcierge work station 440 is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, any number of suchwork stations may be included in a typical system.

As with memory 130, storage system 450 can be of any type ofcomputerized storage capable of storing information accessible by theserver computing devices 410, such as a hard-drive, memory card, ROM,RAM, DVD, CD-ROM, write-capable, and read-only memories. In addition,storage system 450 may include a distributed storage system where datais stored on a plurality of different storage devices which may bephysically located at the same or different geographic locations.Storage system 450 may be connected to the computing devices via thenetwork 460 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and/or may be directly connectedto or incorporated into any of the computing devices 110, 410, 420, 430,440, etc.

Example Methods

In addition to the operations described above and illustrated in thefigures, various operations will now be described. It should beunderstood that the following operations do not have to be performed inthe precise order described below. Rather, various steps can be handledin a different order or simultaneously, and steps may also be added oromitted.

FIG. 5 is an example flow diagram 500 of aspects of the technologydescribed herein for assisting a passenger in an autonomous vehiclewithout a driver, such as vehicle 100, which may be performed by one ormore processors of one or more computing devices of the vehicle, such asprocessors 120 of computing devices 110. For instance, at block 510,after a pre-determined period of time has passed while a door of thevehicle is opened, a set of instructions for closing the vehicle's doorare played through a speaker of the vehicle. For instance, the vehicle'scomputing devices may wait a predetermined period of time for thevehicle's door to be closed. If after waiting the predetermined periodof time, the vehicle's door remains open, the computing devices 110 mayplay a set of instructions for closing the vehicle's door through aspeaker of the vehicle. At block 520, once the door of the vehicle isclosed, an announcement is played through the speaker requesting thatthe passenger press a first button to initiate a ride to a destination.At block 530, in response to the first button being pressed, the ride tothe destination is initiated by maneuvering the vehicle autonomously tothe destination.

In order to generate and provide announcements, the computing devices110 may determine when certain events occur. As discussed further below,events may be identified based on the status of a trip (picking up apassenger, relative location on a route to a destination, etc.),feedback from various sensors of the vehicle, and/or monitoring messagessent to and from various system of the vehicle. For instance, themonitoring may include reviewing messages and the content of thosemessages sent to and from the various systems of the vehicle. Forexample, instructions provided by the planner system 168 to theacceleration and deceleration systems, messages from the perceptionsystem 174 to the planner system 168, feedback from various sensors ofthe vehicle (e.g., a door sensor, light sensor, cameras, seat beltsensors, pressure sensors), etc. may correspond to particular events. Asanother example, messages provided by the perception system 174 maycorrespond to events when the perception system detects traffic lights,stop signs, emergency vehicles or other uncommon events. In otherinstances, when the location of the vehicle is proximate to locations inthe map information associated with a particular flag or certain typesof data, this may correspond to an event. For instance, the computingdevices 110 may determine when the vehicle is nearby a location of themap information associated with a flag for a newly opened business, thismay correspond to an event. Once an event or series of events aredetermined to have occurred, the computing devices 110 may, for instanceuse the identifiers for the event or series of events, to retrieve andplay a corresponding announcement from the memory. Other examples areincluded below.

Other types of information may be used by the computing devices 110 inorder to increase or decrease the frequency of announcements. Forinstance, the current time of day may be used to customize thefrequency, content, or volume of messages. For example, quieter, lessverbose, less frequent announcements may be more appropriate late atnight, while louder, more verbose, more frequent announcements may bemore appropriate during the day.

In one aspect, a user may download an application for requesting avehicle to a client computing device. For example, users 422 and 432 maydownload the application via a link in an email, directly from awebsite, or an application store to client computing devices 420 and430. For example, client computing device may transmit a request for theapplication over the network, for example, to one or more servercomputing devices 110, and in response, receive the application. Theapplication may be installed locally at the client computing device.

The user may then use his or her client computing device to access theapplication and request a vehicle. As an example, a user such as user432 may use client computing device 130 to send a request to one or moreserver computing devices 110 for a vehicle. As part of this, the usermay identify a pickup location, a destination location, and, in somecases, one or more intermediate stopping locations anywhere within aservice area where a vehicle can stop.

Once the user has selected one or more of a pickup and/or destinationlocations, the client computing device 420 may send the location orlocations to one or more server computing devices of the centralizeddispatching system. In response, one or more server computing devices,such as server computing device 110, may select a vehicle, for instancebased on availability and proximity to the user. The server computingdevice may then dispatch the selected vehicle to pick up to the user byproviding the vehicle with the pickup and/or destination locationsspecified by the user.

Upon receipt of this information, the computing devices 110 may controlthe vehicle in order to pick up the user, referred to hereafter as apassenger. Once the vehicle is within a predetermined distance of thepickup location or some other threshold is met, the computing devices110 may begin to identify areas proximate to the pickup location atwhich the vehicle may stop and wait for the passenger. Once an area isidentified, the computing devices 110 may use the various systems ofvehicle 100 to control the vehicle in order to stop the vehicle in theidentified area and wait for the passenger.

When a vehicle is stopped to pick up a passenger, the computing devices110 and/or the passenger may open a door of the vehicle, for instance,such as door 350 or door 352. At this point, assuming the passenger isgetting into or close to the vehicle, this may correspond to an event asdescribed above. Accordingly, the computing devices 110 may play anannouncement including some identifying information through a speaker,such as one of speakers 154. This identifying information may includethe passenger's name or other information such as a specially chosenphrase or description (e.g. “blue diamond”) which will enable thepassenger to confirm that he or she has entered the correct, or in otherwords, his or her assigned vehicle.

After the door of the vehicle is opened, the computing devices 110 maywait a predetermined period of time. The predetermined period of timemay be a reasonable amount of time during which a passenger can beexpected to enter the vehicle 100 and close the door, such as 10 secondsor more or less. After waiting the predetermined period of time, thecomputing devices 110 may determine whether the door is still open, forinstance, via feedback from a door sensor.

After waiting the predetermined period of time and when the vehicle'sdoor remains open, the computing devices 110, this may trigger an eventas described above. Accordingly, the computing devices 110 may play anannouncement of the memory 130 that includes a set of instructions forclosing the vehicle's door. As noted above, this announcement may beidentified based on the occurrence of a series of events, such as thevehicle stopping, waiting the period of time, and the door remainingopen, are determined to have occurred. The computing devices 110 mayplay the announcement through the speaker, such as one of speakers 154.As one instance, the set of instructions may include asking thepassenger to press a particular button on a set of buttons, for instanceof user input 150, twice. For example, if there are multiple buttons,the passenger may be asked via the announcement to press a “rightmostbutton” twice. In this example, by asking the passenger to press thebutton twice, this may prevent an accidental closing of the vehicle doorbefore the passenger is completely within the vehicle. In addition, byproviding the instructions as “a rightmost button” in a row of buttons,persons who are visually impaired or are unable to read or understandicons may more readily find the button.

Once the door is closed, for instance as confirmed by feedback from thedoor sensor, this may trigger an event as described above. Theannouncement for this event may include the computing devices 110 mayconfirming the passenger's destination. As noted above, thisannouncement may be identified based on the occurrence of a series ofevents, such as the vehicle stopping, the door opening and thereafterthe door being closed, are determined to have occurred. The computingdevices 110 may thus play the announcement via the speakers 154,including information identifying the passenger's (or rather, thevehicle's) destination, such as a proper name for the destination and/ora street address. The passenger may then be asked by way of theannouncement to confirm the destination, for instance, by way of a userinput. For example, this may include instructing the passenger to pressthe same or a different button of the user inputs 150 via theannouncement. In response to the passenger pressing the same or adifferent button, the vehicle's computing devices may understand thedestination to be confirmed.

In some instances, before confirming the destination via playing theannouncement and requesting the passenger to provide some input, thecomputing devices 110 may first confirm that the passenger or passengersare seated within the vehicle. Again, this may be an event that thecomputing devices 110 may need to confirm before identifying theannouncement from memory 130 for confirming the destination. Whether apassenger is seated may be confirmed, for instance, using seat beltsensors, seat sensors (e.g. pressure sensors or switches), internalcameras (for instance, with a connection to a rider supportrepresentative who confirm or using machine vision to detect a personsitting in the correct location), etc.

Once the door of the vehicle is closed, this may trigger an event asdescribed above. Accordingly, the computing devices 110 may play anannouncement through the speaker 154 requesting that the passenger pressa first button to initiate a ride to a destination. As noted above, thisannouncement may be identified based on the occurrence of a series ofevents, such as the vehicle stopping, the door opening and thereafterthe door being closed, and/or the passenger confirming the destinationare determined to have occurred by the computing devices 110. Forinstance, the computing devices 110 may identify and play anannouncement of memory 130 requesting that the passenger press the same(e.g. the rightmost button) or a different button of the user inputs150. in response to the first button being pressed, initiating, by theone or more processors, the ride to the destination by maneuvering thevehicle autonomously to the destination. In response to the passengerpressing the same or a different button, the computing devices 110 mayinitiate the trip to the destination by maneuvering the vehicleautonomously to the destination. Of course, the announcement may beskipped in situations in which the passenger has already initiated thetrip by pressing the button. By making this a separate step fromconfirming the destination, this again may address situations in which apassenger has accidentally confirmed an incorrect destination.

Alternatively, the computing devices may play an announcement asking thepassenger to confirm the destination only after the ride has beeninitiated. In other words, after the vehicle has already begunmaneuvering towards the destination. As noted above, this announcementmay be identified based on the occurrence of a series of events, such asthe vehicle stopping, the door opening and thereafter the door beingclosed, and the ride has been initiated are determined to have occurredby the computing devices 110. This may be most practical and useful insituations in which the vehicle is in a loading zone, high traffic area,or is otherwise unable to stop for longer periods of time.

FIG. 6 is an example flow diagram 600 of aspects of the technologydescribed herein for assisting a passenger in an autonomous vehiclewithout a driver, such as vehicle 100, which may be performed by one ormore processors of one or more computing devices of the vehicle, such asprocessors 120 of computing devices 110. For instance, at block 610,during a trip, a plurality of events are identified. At block 620, foreach of the plurality of events, an announcement is identified. At block630, a monologue of information is played through a speaker of thevehicle using the announcements identified for each of the plurality ofevents. As discussed in further detail below, this monologue ofinformation may include information about what is being displayed to thepassenger during the ride (e.g. what is happening), problem conditionsfor the vehicle, the status of the ride (e.g. relative to thedestination), events taking place or that will take place at a locationoutside of the vehicle, weather conditions, etc.

For instance, during the ride, the computing devices 110 may provide amonologue of information about the ride through the speaker, such as oneof speakers 154. This monologue may include a series of announcementstriggered based on various events that occur during the ride. This mayinclude providing announcements about what is displayed on an internaldisplay of the vehicle such as whether the vehicle is stopped and why(e.g. “waiting for pedestrians” or “waiting for cyclists” or “waitingfor redlight”), whether the vehicle has made a hard brake (e.g. a quickdeceleration) and why (e.g. “yielding to pedestrian”), etc. Theseannouncements may also include information about estimated time ofarrival changes, progress reports (e.g. “we are halfway through theride”), routing issues (e.g. “there is construction ahead so we aretaking a detour”), and destination changes. In some instance, theannouncements may be more instructional in nature, such as how to usethe air conditioning, open or close the windows, use the radio or listento music, etc.

In other instances, the announcements may request the passenger toprovide a response by pressing a button, using a touchscreen, or anaudible command. For instance, the announcements may ask the passengerif he or she needs to change a destination, make a phone or video call,needs medical or other assistance, or hear a joke. For example, after aharsh brake event, an announcement may ask the passenger, “Are youokay?” and depending on the rider's answer, could trigger a responsiveannouncement such as “should we continue?”, “would you like to speak toa rider support representative” or “should we go to the nearestemergency room?” These announcements may be identified from the memory130 based on the messages monitored by the computing devices 110.

In certain situations, the computing devices 110 may provide alsoprovide announcements that include information about problem conditionsof the vehicle, such as a collision or sensor problems which maycorrespond to events. These announcements may be identified from thememory 130 based on the messages monitored by by the computing devices110. These announcements may be intentionally vague, such as “we havenoticed a problem and are connecting you with a rider supportrepresentative,” in order to limit unnecessary concern on the part ofthe passenger. In such situations, the rider support representative maybe able to communicate with the passenger or passengers via the speaker,such as one of speakers 154, or another speaker and/or a videoconnection. When connected to a rider support representative, thevehicle's computing devices may stop, mute or lower the volume for theannouncements so that the passenger or passengers can more clearlycommunicate with the rider support representative. Alternatively,certain announcements which the rider support representative is unableto provide may still be played through the speaker while otherannouncements may be stopped, muted, or played at a lower volume.

In some instances, the user inputs 150 may include a button for enablingthe passenger or passengers to request that the vehicle pull over. Whenthis button is pressed, the computing devices 110 may provide anannouncement confirming the pull over has been requested, that thepassenger can cancel the request by pressing the button a second time,and that the vehicle is looking for a place to pull over. Similarly, ifa passenger presses the pull over button a second time, the computingdevices 110 may provide an announcement confirming that the pull overhas been cancelled.

As the vehicle approaches the destination, the computing devices maydetermine that various events are occurring. The announcements for suchevents may also include information related to the destination. Forinstance, the computing devices 110 may use information about anexpected arrival time combined with data from other sources to provideinformation to a passenger or passengers. As an example, if thecomputing devices 110 determine that the arrival at a point of interestcorresponding to the destination will be outside of operating hours, thecomputing devices may provide an announcement asking the passenger toconfirm a desire to continue the destination or changing destinations.As another instance, the announcements may identify that the vehicle isproximate to the destination, remind passengers to collect theirpersonal items, etc. The announcements may also include information tohelp orient the passenger or passengers relative to the destination suchas how to reach the destination from the location of the vehicle (e.g.exit passenger door and walk to the left), which side of the streetrelative to the destination the vehicle is located, which direction towalk to cross the street safely, the closest cross streets, the names ofbusinesses adjacent to the vehicle, etc. The announcements may alsoidentify whether the vehicle is stopped at a curb or in the middle of aparking lot, which may be especially useful to visually impairedpassengers. The announcements may even ask the passenger to press aparticular button or respond audibly if the passenger needs additionalassistance in order to connect a rider support representative. In someinstances, the announcements may identify the current weather situation,for instance “it is currently raining” or “it is currently snowing.” Inaddition, or alternatively, the announcements may also identify whetherthe passenger would need to avoid any obstacles that are outside of thevehicle such as a tree, curb, bush, bicyclist, puddle, etc. Theseobstacles and weather conditions may be determined, for instance, basedon sensor data from the vehicle's perception system.

As indicated above, in some instances, events may be triggered by thegeographic location of the vehicle 100. For instance, as the vehiclepasses through a certain location, the computing devices 110 may provideannouncements including information about that particular area. This mayprovide passengers with the experience of a guided tour provided by thecomputing devices. Such announcements may be especially useful andinteresting when the vehicle is located, in areas where key points ofinterest may have historical or social significance.

In addition to providing information about weather conditions at thedestination, changes in weather conditions may also correspond to eventsleading the computing devices 110 to provide announcements. Forinstance, announcements may be identified from the memory 130 based oninformation received from a remote computing device, such as the servercomputing devices 410, or may be determined, for instance, based onsensor data from the vehicle's perception system. As an example, if rainor other precipitation is predicted or detected, an announcement may beplayed to indicate this information. The content of the announcement maychange depending on the where the vehicle is related to the pickup anddestination location. For instance, if near the pickup location (rightafter the passenger has boarded), an announcement may include, “Hi,passenger—glad to get you out of the rain” or if near the destinationlocation, an announcement may include, “Hope you catch a rainbow!” Asanother example, the announcements may be related to temperature, suchas “Hope you enjoy the air conditioning on your ride!” near the pickuplocation or “Hope you stay warm and thanks for riding!” if near thedestination location.

In some instances, in addition to the language and/or accent used, thetone of announcements may be selected from a plurality of differenttones of the memory 130. For instance, if the passenger were going to aspecial event, that there might be different ways the announcementsmight sound to make the trip part of the journey of the destination. Forexample, the tone may be different if the vehicle was headed to anamusement park, for instance by using character voices or park-relatedthemes in the announcements or words, versus a baseball game, forinstance by using baseball related themes or words in the announcements.In some instances, a passenger may be able to change the tone or“personality” in which the announcements are spoken. For instance, apassenger may choose a particular celebrity's voice, male or femalevoice, and/or language of the announcements.

In some instances, the passenger or passengers may be able to change thefrequency or level of detail of the announcements. For instance, thepassenger or passengers may be able to use his or her client computingdevice, such as client computing devices 420, 430, an internal displayof the vehicle such as internal display 152, or a voice command(received by the vehicle's computing devices via a microphone of theuser inputs 150) to request more or less announcements and/or more orless information. A passenger may even turn off the announcementscompletely or request that the vehicle's computing devices not providesimilar types of messages in the future or to provide more detail forthese types of messages in the future such as: announcing each streetname (“Now proceeding on Main Street”), announcing each turn (“Turningleft onto Bridge Street”), announcing each traffic signal (“Stopping fora red light”), announcing city boundaries (“Welcome to Mountain View”),etc. Alternatively, rather than individual controls, these may be placedinto buckets like “location-based notifications (street names, turn,cities)” and “situation notifications (traffic lights, pedestrians,traffic, etc)” or “trip notifications” (remaining time, ETA, percentagecomplete)

For example, a passenger may request more detail on the vehicle'scurrent environment by selecting for the vehicle to play informationregarding nearby landmarks (e.g. a “tour” of the area through which thevehicle is driving or about the drive, describing billboards or otheroutdoor advertising or signs of which the user would not normally beunaware, e.g. “There is a sign ahead advertising for the Mountain ViewCommunity Festival June 1st to 3rd”, or information about local businessofferings such as sponsored content, etc.) or information such aswhether the vehicle is at a stop light, what streets the vehicle ispassing, etc. In this regard, as noted above, announcements may betriggered by the geographic location of the vehicle 100, and may beespecially useful and interesting when the vehicle is located, in areaswhere key points of interest may have historical or social significance.

As another example, the level of detail for announcements may includetwo or more levels of detail which the passenger or passengers mayselect. In addition, in some instances, when the announcements are on(or at least minimally on), the vehicle's computing devices may disableor ignore feedback from any touch-sensitive displays or other inputs ofthe user inputs 150, in order to prevent a visually impaired person fromaccidentally bumping the inputs and entering incorrect information.

The announcements may also be based on a passenger's interests, forinstance, which may be defined in the passenger's account profile orprovided via speaking this information while in the vehicle. If thepassenger indicated that they were interested in music, the vehicle'scomputing devices could play announcements like “We are passing thelocal concert hall”, “We are passing a record store on the left”, oreven time-based events like “We are passing Central Park where therewill be a free concert tomorrow at 2 pm.”

In some instances, the vehicle's computing devices may determine theambient noise levels within the vehicle 100. If the ambient noise levelswould indicate that one or more passengers in the vehicle are talking,the vehicle's computing devices may also stop, mute or lower the volumefor the announcements. However, in certain situations, such as acollision or a sensor failure, these announcements may be played at alouder volume.

The passenger or passengers may also select to allow the computingdevices 110 to provide announcements unrelated to the current ride. Forinstance, the computing devices 110 may provide announcements usinginformation from a calendar of the passenger (i.e. an itinerary for theday). In this regard, the announcement may even be based on the currentride (e.g. “After we drop you off at your destination, you will have 3hours and 15 minutes until your next appointment”). As another instance,the computing devices 110 may enable the passenger or passengers toschedule additional rides.

As an alternative to the above “push” mechanism where the computingdevices 110 initiate announcements based on events separate from thepassenger or passengers, “pull” mechanism may also be helpful. Forinstance, a passenger may press a button or speak to ask a question suchas “What's happening right now?” The vehicle's computing devices maythen respond with an announcement that provides details about thecurrent situation based on the state of the vehicle 100 and thevehicle's surroundings. For example, one such announcement may include“We are moving slowly due to rain and traffic on the road.”

The features described herein may allow for a vehicle without a driverto provide assistance to passengers. Again, by assisting passengers inthis way, the passenger may be able to remain calm and more easilyunderstand what the vehicle 100 is doing as well as what the passengershould be doing, for instance, in order to get the vehicle to proceed tothe passenger's destination. This in turn, may enable the vehicle 100 tooperate more efficiently as the passenger will have a betterunderstanding of how to operate the vehicle. For instance, visuallyimpaired users may gain a better understanding of their world andcommunity. Put another way, with human drivers, a visually impairedperson may not be provided with sufficient context to allow a visuallyimpaired person the ability to discover new locations by driving throughsuch locations. However, the announcements can create “an audio picture”for visually impaired passengers so they have a much greater context forwhere they are and what is around them.

Unless otherwise stated, the foregoing alternative examples are notmutually exclusive, but may be implemented in various combinations toachieve unique advantages. As these and other variations andcombinations of the features discussed above can be utilized withoutdeparting from the subject matter defined by the claims, the foregoingdescription of the embodiments should be taken by way of illustrationrather than by way of limitation of the subject matter defined by theclaims. In addition, the provision of the examples described herein, aswell as clauses phrased as “such as,” “including” and the like, shouldnot be interpreted as limiting the subject matter of the claims to thespecific examples; rather, the examples are intended to illustrate onlyone of many possible embodiments. Further, the same reference numbers indifferent drawings can identify the same or similar elements.

1. A method of operating an autonomous vehicle assigned to a passengerwithout a driver, the method comprising: controlling, by one or moreprocessors, the vehicle to pick up the passenger and transport thepassenger towards a first location; while the vehicle is transportingthe passenger towards the first location, receiving, by the one or moreprocessors, a first user input from the passenger requesting that thevehicle pull over before the vehicle reaches the first location; inresponse to receiving the first user input: playing, by the one or moreprocessors, a first announcement through a speaker of the vehicleconfirming that a request for the pull over has been made; looking, bythe one or more processors, for a second location to pull over; andcontrolling, by the one or more processors, the vehicle to pull over atthe second location.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first userinput is generated by the passenger pressing a first button of a set ofbuttons a first time.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the firstannouncement indicates that the passenger can cancel the request bypressing the first button a second time.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein the first announcement further indicates that the vehicle islooking for the second location to pull over.
 5. The method of claim 2,wherein the vehicle pulls over at the second location when the firstbutton is not pressed a second time before the vehicle reaches thesecond location.
 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising: while thevehicle is transporting the passenger to the second location, receiving,by the one or more processors, a second user input from the passengerrequesting that the pull over request be cancelled.
 7. The method ofclaim 6, wherein the second user input is generated by the passengerpressing the first button a second time.
 8. The method of claim 7,further comprising: in response to receiving the second user input,controlling, by the one or more processors, the vehicle to transport thepassenger to the first location without pulling over at the secondlocation.
 9. The method of claim 7, further comprising: in response toreceiving the second user input, playing, by one or more processors, asecond announcement through the speaker of the vehicle confirming thatthe pull over request has been cancelled.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the user input is provided via a touchscreen or a microphone.11. A vehicle configured to operate in an autonomous mode, the vehiclecomprising: a user input device; at least one speaker; and one or moreprocessors coupled to the user input device and the speaker, wherein theone or more processor are configured to: control the vehicle to pick upa passenger and transport the passenger towards a first location; whilethe vehicle is transporting the passenger towards the first location,receive a first user input from the user input device requesting thatthe vehicle pull over before the vehicle reaches the first location; andin response to receiving the first user input: play a first announcementthrough the at least one speaker confirming that a request for the pullover has been made; look for a second location to pull over; and controlthe vehicle to pull over at the second location.
 12. The vehicle ofclaim 11, wherein the first user input is generated by the passengerpressing a first button of a set of buttons a first time.
 13. Thevehicle of claim 12, wherein the first announcement indicates that thepassenger can cancel the request by pressing the first button a secondtime.
 14. The vehicle of claim 13, wherein the first announcementfurther indicates that the vehicle is looking for the second location topull over.
 15. The vehicle of claim 12, wherein the vehicle pulls overat the second location when the first button is not pressed a secondtime before the vehicle reaches the second location.
 16. The vehicle ofclaim 12, further comprising: while the vehicle is transporting thepassenger to the second location, receive a second user input from theuser input device requesting that the pull over request be cancelled.17. The vehicle of claim 16, wherein the second user input from the userinput device is generated by the passenger pressing the first button asecond time.
 18. The vehicle of claim 17, further comprising: inresponse to receiving the second user input, control the vehicle totransport the passenger to the first location without pulling over atthe second location.
 19. The vehicle of claim 17, further comprising: inresponse to receiving the second user input, play a second announcementthrough the at least one speaker confirming that the pull over requesthas been cancelled.
 20. The vehicle of claim 11, wherein the user inputdevice is a touchscreen or a microphone.